As the World Turns
by sycamony
Summary: First chapter is one year after the final battle with the Firelord. First chapters are Zutara, and how they find each other. Includes whole new story/plotline
1. Chapter 1

_I do not, of course, own the Avatar storyline or characters. The story is mine, and any new characters are also mine. But quite obviously Zuko, Katara, Aang, and Mai are not._

_Six months after the final battle:_

Zuko paced the room, trying to contain his temper. Mai was up to her same sardonic, uncaring antics. He thought she'd gotten over that, thought she'd grown. After all they'd been through together, after the battles they'd fought! And still she was so immature. She questioned his every move, viciously jealous and possessive for no reason. He'd tried to reason with her, tried to make her see that he truly loved her. But to no avail. Over the last six months, he'd come to realize that this was in fact her true personality- the other had simply been an act.

And now- his fists clenched, then lit with bright flame. He'd come a long way in controlling his expansive temper, but Mai could bring it out in him like he'd never even tried to control it. With a growl of rage, he brought his fist slamming down on a coffee table, smashing it to bits. He watched the splinters of table burn brightly, then sighed and clenched his fist, extinguishing the entire table. What was he going to do? He was Fire Lord now, but he didn't feel like it. Here he was, quarreling with his girlfriend who he didn't even like as a person anymore, when he should be trying to put his country back together.

So. What could he do? He needed to focus on the Fire Nation. It needed him far more than Mai did. She might not understand, and he cringed to think of her wrath, but it had to be done. He'd end up burning the entire palace down if he had to spend much longer with her. They were over. Now he just had to tell her…

Katara sat on the surface of the lake, stirring the water with one fingertip, making pattern upon pattern, compounding the spirals and whorls. She wished she knew what to do. She had thought- no, she'd known that she could be happy with Aang, knew him to be her soul mate, the one person she could spend the rest of her life with. But here she was, as unhappy as she'd ever been. Aang was and always would be one of her best friends, but despite his being the Avatar, and going though so much in his young life, he was still immature and prone to juvenile snap decisions. Furthermore, he refused to see they weren't happy together. He was as miserable as she, but insisted he'd never been happier. And he was jealous of her freedom, her ability to travel incognito. She knew he resented her for it, though he would never say so. But she wanted responsibilities, wanted to be able to do something! Sokka was down with the Southern Water Tribe, helping their father to rebuild what remained of their people. Katara knew it was only a matter of time before he took over from their father as head of the tribe. Which was great- for Sokka. But she could no longer be happy in the South Pole. Her people didn't need her down there. They had numerous water benders now, though none as powerful as herself. It would have been far too awkward for her to go there to live- they would have expected her to take charge, and would have then resented her for it. She could do no good there. But here, with Aang, she did even less. He was too powerful, and made her own talents obsolete. He barely even listened to her opinions anymore. She sighed deeply, then placed her palm flat on the surface of the water, stilling the entire body of water in one quiet movement. She only wished her heart could be as still.


	2. Chapter 2

_One year later_

"Enough! Aang, I can't take this anymore!" Katara cried at the top of her lungs. Aang halted, and turned to her with a puzzled look on his face.

"What do you mean, Katara? You can't take what anymore?"

"Don't. Aang, you can't pretend anymore. This isn't working anymore. _We_ aren't working anymore. This isn't a relationship- we aren't even friends anymore! You don't consult me on anything, you no longer respect my opinions or my talents as a waterbender. I'm done."

Aang stared at Katara, eyes huge. "No! Katara, you can't do this to me. I love you! I thought you loved me… And of course I respect you. I always have, and always will, I swear!"

Katara's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Aang. I do love you, I promise. But you know we're both miserable. I've tried to stay with you, tried to pretend I'm happy. But I'm not willing to give up my happiness anymore. I deserve to be happy, and so do you. And I don't think it can happen if we're together. I just don't do anything anymore- I could be doing so much more for the people in this world, and you never let me do anything."

Aang shook his head. "That's not true! How can you even say that! Why, just yesterday you made a cool tree out of the water. All those little kids thought it was great. And it distracted them while I saved their village from that Fire demon!" He smile encouragingly at Katara, willing her to smile back. But she did not. She gazed at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Aang. I can't stay. I need to figure out just who it is I really am. And I can't do that here." She wove her hands through the air in a complicated but brief dance. Her form became transparent, then she merged into the sky as a column of water, disappearing into the sky in an instant.

Aang let out a cry of grief, and leapt into the air after her. But she was gone, even beyond the reach of his own talents. She'd been practicing on her own time, and had been able to discover skills she never knew she could have.


	3. Chapter 3

_Four years later_

The Fire Nation was finally flourishing. Zuko sat at the throne of the Fire Lord, tracing the patterns in the worn wood. He'd thought about getting rid of the throne, seeing as it contained mostly bad memories for him, but some of the older advisors had talked him out of it. They said it was too imbued with tradition and culture for the Fire Nation, and that some of the older citizens might see it as a betrayal. But he was finally helping his people, and helping his country. He was bringing the Fire Nation back to where it used to be, before his grandfather harnessed the power of the comet to start the war. And Mai had finally left him alone.

Sometimes he wondered what the rest of the freedom fighters were up to- he heard many things about Aang. As the Avatar, he was all over the place, though Zuko hadn't actually talked to Aang in over a year. He'd had some correspondence with Sokka as well, though not of late. The only person he'd heard nothing from was Katara, not since he'd taken over as Fire Lord.

Suddenly, he felt a change in the air. As Fire Lord, he was connected to the entire Fire Nation, and he could feel major changes in its environment. This one was indeed major- and it felt like a fire. Not the normal kind, but the raging, all-encompassing kind of forest fire that would eat everything in its path with tongues of flame. He sprang from the throne, and ran outside of the palace to the courtyard. There, he paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep, cleansing breath. Then he expanded his chi outward in an ever-widening circle. There! It was on the south side of the island- and it was big. Really big. His eyes narrowed. There was also no way it had started naturally. It was this kind of self-destructive terrorism that had been slowly spreading. He needed to find whoever had started this, and deal with them. Preferably harshly. But now, he needed to get to the south side of the island, and fast. Because if he didn't get there, it might well destroy an entire town- or kill a whole lot of people. So he started running.

Katara was in the sky, drifting aimlessly. She'd spent the past few months mostly as water, learning more about her own powers than she ever had before. She could become any form of water, communing with all the other droplets around her, and urging them to form cohesive particles, or split into smaller pieces. And then she felt the heat of a raging fire. She frowned- or rather, she thought of frowning. Her face was dissolved into the cloud around her.

She might have let it burn, but she could tell this fire wasn't natural. It needed to be put out, or people might be in danger. Hell, people already were in danger. She gathered up her cloud body, and surrounding clouds, and pulled together over the fire, then crashed down with torrential rainfall, though she held the lightning back. The fire was extinguished almost immediately, but she let the rain fall for some time longer, making sure all the remaining embers were put out. She also let herself fall to the ground with the rain droplets, re-forming her body once she hit the earth. Then she stood, silent, watching the rain fall.


	4. Chapter 4

Zuko arrived at the scene of the fire, only to find it was already out, the flames put out by a heavily concentrated, severely isolated rainfall. He frowned, gazing up at the darkly ominous clouds. Lightning played through them, and thunder cracked loud and booming directly over his head, but no lightning struck. In fact, it didn't even attempt to leave the mass of clouds. _Interesting, _Zuko thought to himself. _That cannot be a natural storm. Did the same person who started the fire bring the rain? _Then- _Wait. Is that… a person standing over there? Who would be crazy enough to come here during such a storm and fire? They must be the criminal! _And so Zuko ran at the figure, determined to catch and punish them for their crimes.

Katara was lost in thought as she gazed at her clouds. She had been spending her time as a nomadic cloud or part of a river. She'd even spent time as a wave in the ocean. For the most part she was avoiding Aang. She knew he was looking for her, but thus far, she had avoided him with relative ease. But what was she doing? She couldn't spend the rest of her life as a rain cloud, drifting through the sky.

He ran towards the figure, darting from burnt stump to burnt stump. He was determined to take this terrorist down. No one would destroy his fledgling nation- not before it had a chance to even take off. He was almost there. He gathered his strength, took a deep breath, and leapt. He hit the figure square on, rolling into a tackle, then continuing the roll and throwing them into a particularly sturdy tree, then pinning them against the tree trunk with a collar of lightning grabbed from the turbulent sky.

"What are you doing here? Traitor, why are you- Katara?"

"Zuko?"

The two powerful benders stared at each other. They had both changed very much since they'd seen each other last.

Zuko couldn't believe the how much older Katara looked. In the past, she'd always been quick with a smile or a kind word, and gentle encouragement, her hair done in its' perfect knotted braid. But now. Her hair had darkened to a deeper chestnut color, and it was in tumbling waves down past her hips. Her eyes were distant- wary, and she had a thin white scar tracing from the outside corner of her right eye across her face to the opposite corner of her mouth. _And she wasn't a girl anymore, _Zuko thought. _She was a woman. With real curves, and real – _What was he thinking! No, she was with Aang. And this was Katara! _Right. Katara. But… what is she doing here? Did she bring the rain?_

Katara looked Zuko over. He looked… Good. _He's filled out since I saw him last. He's not a boy anymore. His shoulders are broader. And he's taller. He's really grown into himself. Wait, what am I saying? Was that- attraction? No, it's Zuko. Of course I'm not attracted to him. Right._

"Zuko. It's been a long time. Or I guess I should say Fire Lord Zuko, now shouldn't I?" Katara gaveZuko a small smirk.

"Katara. Mind doing something about this rain?" Zuko smirked right back at her, confident she wouldn't be able to do much. Only the Avatar had the power to- And then she lifted her hands, closed her eyes, and exhaled. She shifted through a brief series of moves, ending with her hands raised to the sky, fingers spread wide. She flicked her fingertips, face upturned. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the torrential downpour slowed, and stopped. The clouds thinned, then broke apart completely. Blue skies were now visible through wispy white clouds. Katara bowed her head, and folded her hands in front of her, her breath coming slightly short.

Zuko stared. "Now where did you learn to do that?"

Katara smiled up at him through the strands of hair in her face, though it wasn't a particularly kind smile. "I've picked up some new tricks since you saw me last. Judging by that lightning collar you made, so have you. You didn't make that fire, did you? Because it was just wrong. That whole fire was wrong. I mean, I don't really like any fire, but this one especially was really bad. Hungry, somehow."

"Why would I want to damage my own fragile kingdom?" Zuko cried. "I've put everything I have into making this place habitable and hospitable once more- this kind of fire threatens everything I've done for my nation."

"Alright, calm down. Just asking. Have you had many of these fires recently?"

Zuko frowned. "Yes, actually. Though this is the largest one yet. I'm afraid they're getting worse and worse. "

Katara turned to the ocean, wind tugging at her hair and tattered clothes. "Might… might you want my help?"

Startled, Zuko stared at her. "But the Avatar- Aang, I mean… " He was cut off by a brief rumble of thunder. The skies had darkened once more. He glanced at Katara. Her fists were clenched by her sides, shoulders squared and tense. "I asked you if you wanted my help. I didn't ask for you to badger me with personal questions." She turned to face him once more, her eyes dark and inscrutable, hair whipping across her face. "Do you want my help or not?"

Zuko met her gaze squarely, then nodded. "Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you." But what had changed? Where was all her anger coming from, and why had she left Aang? He'd thought they were inseparable, two halves of the same whole. Even now, she looked- broken_. _In pain.

She nodded to him. "Call to me when you next need my help. I'll spend the time looking for your firebug." Turning, she raised her face to the sky, clearly done with the conversation.

"Wait. Katara." She glanced back at Zuko, standing in the ashes. "It's good to see you again." And he smiled at her. It wasn't a huge smile, but she'd forgotten how handsome he was when he smiled. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she raised her face back to the sky, cheeks burning. Then she clapped her hands together and whirled into a spiral of dense fog, trailing up to the clouds.

But as she vanished, Zuko heard a whispered "And you as well, Fire Lord Zuko."


	5. Chapter 5

Zuko was walking back to the palace, trying to figure out what had just happened. He'd seen Katara again, clearly hurting and strangely wild, plus she'd gained powers he'd never even heard of a regular water bender possessing, Master or no. She'd literally dissolved into the clouds above, and then the Katara-cloud had thinned, and whisked away, leaving no signs she'd even been there. Was he losing his mind? _Plus, _added the sneaky part of his brain, _did she blush when I smiled at her? I'm pretty sure she did. What does that mean? _He shook his head, trying to banish the thoughts. But all he could see was her standing there, blue eyes shadowed with secrets. Clearly there were many things she wasn't telling him. What should he do? He realized with a start he hadn't even considered telling Aang. He could at least contact the Avatar and try to ask him what was going on. _But I don't want to. Why am I so opposed to that? _Then the realization came to him, and he stopped dead in his tracks with the surprise of it. _I'm afraid that would scare her away. And I really don't want her to go. I want to see more of her, in fact I'm really hoping that jack-ass firebug will start another fire soon so I can see her again. What on earth is wrong with me?_ He shook his head, and then smacked his palm against his forehead. "Stupid brain…" he grumbled at himself, and continued on towards the palace.

Katara drifted over Zuko as he made his trek back towards the Fire Nation's capital city. She watched as he stopped with a startled look on his face, then smacked himself in the forehead and muttered something low under his breath. She thought a smile, and wondered what it was he thought of. She told herself she was following Zuko so she could make sure he didn't contact Aang with pesky questions about her, but she knew in her heart that wasn't the case. She was following Zuko because she wanted to see more of him. She remembered back to the day of the comet, and how he had taken the Azula's lightning bolt meant for her, how brave he'd been. And she watched him now, and thought of his smile, and the mist that was her heart gave a flutter. _Gah! _she shrieked inwardly. _What am I doing? I __am__ attracted to him. Damnit! I will not do this again. There can be no good that will come of this. Besides, he doesn't like me. He's got that gloomy Mai girl._ _No! That's beside the point. I won't open myself up to pain again like that._ As she moved with the clouds and argued with herself, Zuko moved on the ground underneath with the same argument.


End file.
